Gosh - you bought back memories of sleeping with my first child Jo. The feet pinching skin whilst burrowing under your back with the sharp toenail torture!!! Also the constant wanting to lie on top of you rather than next to - ie throwing the leg over incessantly. She still sleeps like this even now (age 10) and I avoid bed sharing with her if I can convince my husband to instead! (if there is a need). He is a heavier sleeper and so generally is not so affected. Thank goodness the latest snuggle bunny is a quiet little sleeper!! Maxine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jo Bourne" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 11:07 AM Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Co-Sleeping
> I think it really depends on personalities and sleep styles too though. We still cosleep with our 3.5 yr old and despite every mattress arrangement we have tried it guarantees me a bad night sleep. If Isabelle just wanted to be near by then what you are suggesting would rock, but she sleeps wedged into my armpit, with her fingers digging a hole in my belly button, and as I try to drift away from her she follows me across the bed until her (6'7") father and I have less than half the bed to share and she is taking up the rest. This happened even when we had mattresses side by side on the floor. It means I have to spend the whole night in one position, usually on my back with my head wedged between pillows (instead of on top of one) and with both arms over my head to make room for the small person wedged in to one side and the very large person trying not to fall off the bed on the other side, or trying not to be crushed into the wall or whatever. I wake up sore and cranky. She! > arguably sleeps better. Apart from getting sore I also don't get that true restful sleep with Isabelle in the bed. > > We persist because she sleeps like me - lightly and irregularly. Her wakings are not habitual and I see no possibility of simply retraining her not to have a regular Xam waking because there is no pattern to break. I also believe that she lies awake for up to an hour, or more, during the night most nights and that she would be frightened/sad to do this alone in her own room. It's a blessing that she has learned she has to lie quietly and still and wait to go back to sleep next to us. > > My point being that sometimes the arrangement of beds/mattresses makes no real difference to a cosleeping arrangement. And even it if is the "best" option for a family it can still be pretty exhausting and unpleasant. > > cheers > Jo > > At 6:44 AM +0800 28/10/05, Mary Murphy wrote: > >The most successful co-sleeping arrangements I have seen (as a homebirth > >midwife) are those households which have beds of the same height all across > >the room or ditto mattresses on the floor. The bedroom is the sleeping room > >and the other rooms are the nap, play, dressing rooms. Then everyone gets > >the sleep they need as there is plenty of room and no danger of falling off. > >MM > > > >"I really wish co-sleeping worked for us, but it doesn't - I don't sleep > >well with my kids in the bed and often end up with muscle aches from weird > >positions. We tried for 4 months with my first, and sporadically since with > >both. > > > >Hence the mattress on the floor next to me. Which works well > >sometimes!" > > > >-- > >This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. > >Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. > > > -- > Jo Bourne > Virtual Artists Pty Ltd > -- > This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. > Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. > -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
